Halo 5 Review

The Xbox One exclusive Halo 5: Guardians is developed by 343 industries. It is the latest installation of the beloved Halo franchise, and looks to bring new innovations into the fan-favorite series. The game comes with a lengthy co-op campaign mode which allows up to four players to play together online and experience the story together. It also features numerous multiplayer modes, omitting the local multiplayer mode, which might be disappointing for some.

Gameplay:Halo 5 is a first person shooter, much like the previous games in the series. You’re an advanced Spartan soldier. The controls are simple and can be adjusted to fit your playstyle. The combat is amazingly satisfying, speeding things up from the previous Halo games. Weapons and vehicles from the past Halo games return, along with a plethora of new ones. The game features some new abilities, my favorite being the Spartan Dash that you’ll use to break through walls or destroy certain enemies.

Multiplayer Modes:

The game boasts three primary multiplayer modes. Arena features several types of fast paced competitive multiplayer options: Team Arena, Slayer, Breakout, Free-for-all and SWAT. The modes are played in smaller maps, leading to squash matches, which players can use to hone their combat skills. Warzone is much larger scaled: allowing up to 24 players battle each other in teams along with AI teammates and vehicles. This is a great mode for players to sit back and enjoy a lengthy game with minimum interruptions. The Custom Game allows you to choose the map, mode and settings and team of your choice. Finally, there is a Theater mode where you can watch videos of your or your friend’s gameplay if they had been saved previously.

Campaign:

The campaign mode follows two teams of Spartan soldiers. Blue team led by the Master Chief and Fire team Osiris led by Locke. The game begins with the teams competing missions for ONFC, but the events take a dramatic turn when Master Chief receives a cryptic message from his former AI partner, Cortana. Apparently, he is still alive and summoning massive Guardians across the galaxy. All except three of the 15 missions in the game are played as Fire Team Osiris, who is trying to catch up to Blue Team in the cause.

Visuals:

Halo 5 is a game, which was built from scratch for the Xbox One, and it shows. The visuals are a treat to look at, displaying the full power of the Xbox One hardware. The game does have some aliasing issues, but that is expected to be fixed via patches sent by the developers. The draw distance is amazing and the game’s environments give a sense of grandeur to large-scale aerial battles as well as the massive and imposing Guardians.

Audio:

The intense score weaves in the iconic Halo track, and it provides a great soundtrack to the campaign. The voice acting is also extremely well done, except for the few uninspired dialogues here and there.

The Verdict:

The removal of local multiplayer may be bothersome, but the other extensive multiplayer modes more than make up for it. Halo 5: Guardians has great graphics, improved gameplay and a compelling story, making it highly recommended to all Halo and FPS fans.